Aerospace Daily & Defense Report 2012-11-01

In Brief

STORM WEATHERED: An Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket stage, on its seaside launch pad at Wallops Island, Va., for an upcoming hot-fire test, “looks to be in pretty good shape” after weathering Hurricane Sandy. Wallops was evacuated for the storm, leaving the Antares first stage in position on the pad and the nearby horizontal processing facility locked down. While the processing facility had already weathered one severe storm, it was the first time for Antares flight hardware. After a quick inspection Oct....More

Programs

The U.S. Army is at odds with elected officials over the fate of four C-23 Sherpas.
While the Army is seeking to stop operation of two of the fixed-wing cargo aircraft in Florida and another two in Texas, the governors of those states and Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) are trying to ensure that they remain funded....More

Boeing used the recent Association of the United States Army (AUSA) convention to provide more details about its new Joint Air Breathing Multi-Role Missile (Jabmm) concept originally intended for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
The new, small, modular missile payload was revealed in early 2012. Boeing is pitching the concept as a “turbine air breathing missile solution to countering proliferating anti-access threats.”...More

Europe’s second Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), considered by some forecasters the best of its kind in the world, has gone into service on Eumetsat’s Metop-B polar-orbiting weather satellite.
Developed by France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and Thales Alenia Space, the IASI measures infrared wavelengths across 8,461 different spectral channels to generate high-resolution vertical profiles of the atmosphere’s temperature and humidity. The data is crucial to numerical weather prediction models....More

Raytheon could be able to deliver its first Tamir missile built in the U.S. within 15 months if U.S. and Israeli officials work out a deal to co-produce the Iron Dome interceptor stateside, according to industry officials.
One official estimates that U.S. production of about 3,000 missiles, half of Israel’s anticipated buy, could provide for about 650 manufacturing jobs stateside at a time of high unemployment....More

Funding and Policy

In the race for Missouri Senate, in which two members of the congressional armed services committees — Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) and Rep. Todd Akin (R) — are in a statistical tie, Boeing employees have largely put their money behind the Senate incumbent.
Boeing Defense Space & Security is based in St. Louis. And the company’s employees have plunked down $58,500 for McCaskill, according to the Center for Responsive Politics....More

While the U.S. is drawing down troops and pulling back on wartime resources, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pentagon officials say they still need funds for investments to fight evolving battles on cyber and other fronts....More

Funding and Policy

While the U.S. is drawing down troops and pulling back on wartime resources, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pentagon officials say they still need funds for investments to fight evolving battles on cyber and other fronts....More

In the race for Missouri Senate, in which two members of the congressional armed services committees — Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) and Rep. Todd Akin (R) — are in a statistical tie, Boeing employees have largely put their money behind the Senate incumbent.
Boeing Defense Space & Security is based in St. Louis. And the company’s employees have plunked down $58,500 for McCaskill, according to the Center for Responsive Politics....More

In Brief

STORM WEATHERED: An Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket stage, on its seaside launch pad at Wallops Island, Va., for an upcoming hot-fire test, “looks to be in pretty good shape” after weathering Hurricane Sandy. Wallops was evacuated for the storm, leaving the Antares first stage in position on the pad and the nearby horizontal processing facility locked down. While the processing facility had already weathered one severe storm, it was the first time for Antares flight hardware. After a quick inspection Oct....More

Programs

Boeing used the recent Association of the United States Army (AUSA) convention to provide more details about its new Joint Air Breathing Multi-Role Missile (Jabmm) concept originally intended for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
The new, small, modular missile payload was revealed in early 2012. Boeing is pitching the concept as a “turbine air breathing missile solution to countering proliferating anti-access threats.”...More

The U.S. Army is at odds with elected officials over the fate of four C-23 Sherpas.
While the Army is seeking to stop operation of two of the fixed-wing cargo aircraft in Florida and another two in Texas, the governors of those states and Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) are trying to ensure that they remain funded....More

Raytheon could be able to deliver its first Tamir missile built in the U.S. within 15 months if U.S. and Israeli officials work out a deal to co-produce the Iron Dome interceptor stateside, according to industry officials.
One official estimates that U.S. production of about 3,000 missiles, half of Israel’s anticipated buy, could provide for about 650 manufacturing jobs stateside at a time of high unemployment....More

Europe’s second Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), considered by some forecasters the best of its kind in the world, has gone into service on Eumetsat’s Metop-B polar-orbiting weather satellite.
Developed by France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and Thales Alenia Space, the IASI measures infrared wavelengths across 8,461 different spectral channels to generate high-resolution vertical profiles of the atmosphere’s temperature and humidity. The data is crucial to numerical weather prediction models....More